SLOW BELLS...SLOWLY BUT SURELY

This is Sally and Beaujolais, and they are Two dogs on a boat. For the past five weekends the dogs and I have made the 4 hour drive up to the Lake where our boat is kept at a Marina.The dogs really seem to love the boat life. They have absolutely no problems maneuvering around the boat. We do have to take long walks to the beach 5 times a day for potty breaks, and so far there have been no accidents.

In the aft area I am trying to go for the Hemingway look on a budget. A little worldly. I have since bought and added a 4 shelf mini fridge back here. The tiny fridge in the galley is just too small, and I am sick to death of lugging ice and ice chests.

My husband got a promotion and command of another ship so he didn't get to stay home this summer as planned and work out all the kinks with this boat. So I was left the chore of dealing with the shifty boat dealership South Austin Marine and the lawyer who is filing suit against them for deceptive advertising, Deceptive trade practices etc. Nothing in life is honest and on the up and up anymore, You can't trust anyone especially big business.

In the meantime I have been decorating to my hearts content and learning the local area. I completed my Texas Boater Safety Course and received my certificate. I had tried to take power boating classes but there never seemed to be enough students to make the classes a go , so they were all cancelled. My husband will be back this week, so I will have the opportunity to learn from him. All the while I have been collecting my sea time, so once I am proficient at operating the boat I will have all my ducks in row to get my 100 ton Masters Licence. It is not something necessary for ownership of this type of boat but its something I have wanted to do for self fulfillment.

This is my little galley, where aside from the microwave no cooking has been done. I brought an electric pressure cooker on board as I read somewhere they were good for one pot fast cooking on boats with limited space. Truthfully I still don't know if the stove works, I haven't had the chance to turn it on.

This is the master bed as you can see Two dogs have already homesteaded it.

This is the dining table. Much to my husbands dismay, Yes! I did hang a chandelier above the table.

Every weekend when I go up I stop and buy flowers. It just seems to add that little bit of peaceful ambiance I am looking for.

SO WE ARE GOING TO BUY A BOAT....

I wanted to get a cheapo beater boat that we could have fun with but not spend alot of money. We tried that last year and it was a lemon. My husband says he would rather carry on an ice chest than a tool chest so he looked long and hard and found this baby.

This time next week we will be picking up our new boat.

I have spent the last week diligently ordering linens and incidentals for it. I want it to be beautiful, a show piece on the water. My husband has been ordering man stuff like a BBQ for the deck.

I already have romantic visions of moonlit sails and romantic dinners, sleeping under the stars and being rocked to sleep by gentle waves. This is really a romantic dream since I am prone to horrible sea sickness even with Dramamine. So I hope and pray the tranquility of the lake and I will get along.

My husband and I love our dogs. They are our children. So he went out of his way to make sure the boat would be easily doggy accessible. He is even ordering a doggy dock for it. One thing about our dogs is they want to be with us all the time and we like them being with us.

We spend alot of our holiday time in this area and often cant bring the dogs because hotels wont allow them. This will be like our floating home away from home.

I already have on my agenda to have the boat blessed by the local priest, and have a full on Christening ceremony for her.

Since my husband got to pick the boat, I got to pick the name. I chose "AVE MARIS STELLA" which is Latin for "Hail Mary Star of the sea". I chose this because my husband is a Sea Captain and I pray the rosary for his safety always, when we married I had the opera singer , sing both the Ave Maria and the Ave Maris Stella. I think it is a beautiful prayer.

I am already thinking good thoughts about all the happy times we will have here.

Now my husband better get the lead out and get us dock space.